S'lright . . . here's the skinny on Thurs and turkey-day Tuesday:
Thursday:
Finished group reports about Said. Tried to show them a YouTube interview with Said in which they were to look for connections to autoethnography, contact zone, etc, but broken blinds made it impossible to see the screen. Assigned this work for them to do on their own. We also talked a bit about budget situation and their inability to find enough open classes. Will bring complaint form in for them and get them to write letters to State Legislature.
Tuesday:
Talked about Said interview. Then, peer workshop inspired by Chloe's and Erica's classes.
Workshop
Pairs, exchange papers
First read, on a piece of paper
· What is the project?
· What is at stake?
· What writerly strategies do you see?
· Integration of quotes, artifacts
· Form, organization
· Recommendations for revision
Second read, on the essay itself
· Check marks where you are interested
· Plus signs where they could expand, add to text
· Suggestions for moving text
· Squiggle under awkward sentences
· Circle where need quote sandwich
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
End in sight and feeling alright
Apparently, my theme for this last part of the course is "working with . . .(artifacts, quotes, photos, etc)." I have been hitting this in every class in one way or another.
Here is my class plan from last Thursday: We spent the first part of class discussing "Our Secret." I had them count off so they were in different groups of 3, then they had to address these questions: What is the meaning of the title? Why this way of writing? What argument is the way it is written making? How does the form affect the content?
Next, we made a web or constellation of relationships between the elements in the text. We used the white board and the groups took turn putting up pieces. They found this extremely helpful.
In the second half of class I had them chose an artifact they had gathered for project 2 and write an interpretation of the artifact. Then, we chose a quote from Griffin that back up an interpretation of the text we agreed on. I projected Word onto the screen and as a group we wrote the quote sandwich.
Today:
First discussion of Said. I had them write a meaningful question about Said to shape class discussion. This question should reflect the work we've been doing. Then, I put them into groups of 3 of my choosing and assigned each one of these questions. They had to come up with 10 minutes ways of talking about the question, relating it specifically to the text and posing further questions to the class. We spent 45 minutes in big group discussion talking about the photos in the essay (2 groups had questions about this). We will pick up this work on Thurs.
Here is my class plan from last Thursday: We spent the first part of class discussing "Our Secret." I had them count off so they were in different groups of 3, then they had to address these questions: What is the meaning of the title? Why this way of writing? What argument is the way it is written making? How does the form affect the content?
Next, we made a web or constellation of relationships between the elements in the text. We used the white board and the groups took turn putting up pieces. They found this extremely helpful.
In the second half of class I had them chose an artifact they had gathered for project 2 and write an interpretation of the artifact. Then, we chose a quote from Griffin that back up an interpretation of the text we agreed on. I projected Word onto the screen and as a group we wrote the quote sandwich.
Today:
First discussion of Said. I had them write a meaningful question about Said to shape class discussion. This question should reflect the work we've been doing. Then, I put them into groups of 3 of my choosing and assigned each one of these questions. They had to come up with 10 minutes ways of talking about the question, relating it specifically to the text and posing further questions to the class. We spent 45 minutes in big group discussion talking about the photos in the essay (2 groups had questions about this). We will pick up this work on Thurs.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Kinda Coming Together
Alrighty, here's the scoop:
Conferences: Went well. It was interesting to talk to students about their papers (which were the graded 1.2 papers) and find out many of the A- students were worried they were doing terribly. I think this is partially because they took risks in the papers and were unsure if it was really okay to do that.
Last week:
Tues. Our first day talking about Griffin's piece. The first thing we did was a qw about the 1.3 revision they turned in. Then I discussed titling your essay and quote sandwiches and asked them to make those changes in pen on their papers.
Next, we turned to Griffin and read aloud the first 5 pages looking for connections, transitions, etc. We used this to talk about how a writer helps readers see how elements (even in a collage essay) relate to each other. We then named moves a writer could make to do this.
Finally, I handed out 2.1, an assignment I wasn't too happy with. It seemed to overlap too much with project 1 -- I think I fixed this successfully with 2.2.
Thursday's class was cancelled (furlough plus conference).
Yesterday's (Tues 11/10 class): We spent the class talking about citation and working with "artifacts" (including quotes). We discussed why we cite and how to cite difficult artifacts (cd cover art, etc). Students put sample citations on the board for extra credit. Then, we discussed how to provide a reading of a quote or other artifact, and the students chose one of the artifacts they brought in that day and wrote an analysis of it which was meant to explain to a reader how it represented something about their community.
Conferences: Went well. It was interesting to talk to students about their papers (which were the graded 1.2 papers) and find out many of the A- students were worried they were doing terribly. I think this is partially because they took risks in the papers and were unsure if it was really okay to do that.
Last week:
Tues. Our first day talking about Griffin's piece. The first thing we did was a qw about the 1.3 revision they turned in. Then I discussed titling your essay and quote sandwiches and asked them to make those changes in pen on their papers.
Next, we turned to Griffin and read aloud the first 5 pages looking for connections, transitions, etc. We used this to talk about how a writer helps readers see how elements (even in a collage essay) relate to each other. We then named moves a writer could make to do this.
Finally, I handed out 2.1, an assignment I wasn't too happy with. It seemed to overlap too much with project 1 -- I think I fixed this successfully with 2.2.
Thursday's class was cancelled (furlough plus conference).
Yesterday's (Tues 11/10 class): We spent the class talking about citation and working with "artifacts" (including quotes). We discussed why we cite and how to cite difficult artifacts (cd cover art, etc). Students put sample citations on the board for extra credit. Then, we discussed how to provide a reading of a quote or other artifact, and the students chose one of the artifacts they brought in that day and wrote an analysis of it which was meant to explain to a reader how it represented something about their community.
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